On 4 March, we attended the Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional Research In Cheshire And Merseyside (NRICAM) Showcase at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust.

The event brough together clinical and academic colleagues from across the region to network and share presentations on their research activities. The days’ theme was 'Developing research capability and capacity in Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals (NMAHPs)' and a number of presentations provided advice and guidance around supporting, delivering and leading research activities.

During breaks between sessions, attendees were able to network and visit stalls representing various research projects. Trust staff manned a stall to spread the word about the Mental Health Research for Innovation Centre (M-RIC) and our new innovative system Count Me In, which aims to widen participation in research activities.

Several of the Trust’s clinicians gave presentations and exhibited their research posters. Dr Krystina Stanway, Assistant Director of Allied Health Professionals at the trust, shared her research poster on ‘Ethical Dilemmas of the use of Internet Mediated Research with Teenagers and Young Adults at End of Life’.

Catherine Witter, Advanced Clinical Pharmacist, gave a session on ‘What have I gained from a research internship?’. In this, she explained how undergoing an internship with Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast (ARC NWC) enabled her to get started on her research project on Neonatal Adaptation Syndrome (NAS).

At the end of the day, it was announced that a poster created by Catherine Witter, Nicola Legge, Assistant Physical Health Practitioner, and Dr Catherine Murgatroyd, Consultant Psychiatrist, had won first place in the poster presentation competition. The poster was on ‘Evaluation of home-based electrocardiogram (ECG) and venepuncture by Mersey Care NHS Foundations Trust’s Mid-Mersey Specialist Perinatal Service (SPS)’.

Catherine said: “We were looking forward to the NRICAM Showcase event not only to share our projects but to meet others starting out on their research journey. The day had an inspiring array of speakers, and we were delighted that our recent work was recognised. We would recommend the event to others interested in how to get involved in research not just those experienced in the field. It was great to hear and speak to R&D Northwest and NIHR about available opportunities at this exciting time.”

Assistant Psychologists, Alexandra Jenkins and Lydia Guttridge gave a presentation about their project which explores staff and patient experiences of a sensory room in a female acute inpatient mental health setting.

Lydia commented: “Being invited to present at the NRICAM event was an exciting opportunity for Alexandra and I. It was a pleasure to share the findings of our service evaluation about patient and staff experiences of using a female sensory room on an acute mental health ward, and also provide support to others’ hoping to implement sensory rooms into their services. There was so much variety throughout the day, hearing about others’ research journeys and local research projects was really motivating and inspiring.”

Dr Oladayo Bifarin, Research Effectiveness Lead at the Trust and part of the team at the Mental Health Research for Innovation Centre (M-RIC), chaired a session in which Dr Lisa Ledger gave a keynote speech around supporting Allied Health Professions’ research careers.

He said: “Attending events such as this one is a great way for the trust to really embed research at the heart of clinical practice. The day emphasised the important impact research activities can have, and it gave attendees a chance to learn about how they either start or progress on their research journey within their clinical environments.”

If you are interested in learning more about how you can take part in research activities, take the Mersey Care ‘Making space for research’ training module.